The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Monday submitted a chargesheet at the Thamarassery First Class Judicial Magistrate Court-II against 14 persons in the case of lynching of Shaheed Bava by a mob masquerading as moral police at Kodiyathur.
The case relates to a 15-member band beating up Shaheed Bava, 27, with sticks, after tying his hands and legs on to an electric post at night on November 9 for allegedly having an affair with a married woman at Kodiyathur. The victim succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital in the city on November 13.
Jossy Cherian, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Control Room), Kozhikode city, who heads the SIT, said that a major achievement of the police was to submit the chargesheet within the stipulated 90-day period after the accused had been arrested. One of the accused, Fayaz, 24 of Arimbra, was still at large. A lookout notice had been issued against Fayaz who fled to Saudi Arabia after the incident.
The 14 accused, now in judicial custody, are Abdu Rahman, 52; Abdul Nazar, 28; Murshid Kottummal, 26; Irshad Kuyyil, 20; Mohammed Saalim, 19; Ayoob, 22; Najith Hydros, 19; Abdu Fiyas, 25; Abdul Karim, 42; Rashid Abdurahiman, 20; Shahul Hameed, 26; Jaffer alias Bichutha, 30; Fayaz Maliyekal, 24 and Abdul Kareem, 42 – all hailing from Kodiyathur. They will be produced before the court on Tuesday.
All of them have been charged under Section 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons) read with 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty) of the Indian Penal Code.
Mr. Cherian said the investigators had questioned 150 persons and 88 of them had been named as witnesses. The statements of three key witnesses, the married woman, her daughter and a chicken trader, had been taken under Section 164 ( recording of confessions and statements) of the Code of Criminal Procedure by the Thamarassery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court- I, lest they turned hostile during the trial.
As many as 44 materials objects including mobile phones, steel rods and wooden planks and nine documents had been submitted to the court. To establish the conspiracy theory, the investigators had also submitted the telephone call details of the accused with a pictorial representation to the court. A prime accused, Abdul Nazar, autorickshaw driver, who had taken Shaheed Bava in his auto to the woman's house at Kodiyathur, had informed the attackers about his whereabouts on November 9. Later the gang had waylaid him as soon as he came out of the woman's house.
Mr. Cherian said that the SIT was awaiting an order from the State government to appoint a special prosecutor in the case. The case would be committed to the Kozhikode District Sessions Court shortly.
